Many companies that deliver effective DDoS protection solutions, also constantly bring out case studies and information about the various ways in which such DDoS attacks can take place.

Based on this data, DDoS or distributed denial of service attacks can lead to several problems, such as:

• Breach and exposure of confidential data
• Bringing down a network or website and causing it to remain inaccessible to legitimate users for a prolonged period of time
• Short term loss of business opportunities
• Long term loss of business reputation, markets and clients

It is therefore extremely important to look for timely and immediate help as far as DDoS attacks are concerned. It is also critical to look for companies that are making a difference in this space because they have brought about a new approach to DDoS protection, mitigation and prevention solutions.

 Swiftness of action

Sometimes, even the best laid plans of a business organization can go haywire. Even before protection solutions can be up and running, its network or website may see the onset of DDoS attacks. In this scenario, when working “under fire”, it becomes critical to look for effective and scalable DDoS protection services that can be deployed within a matter a few minutes.

While several companies offer DDoS protection services that can mitigate application level and network layer attacks, the time to set them up (or to scale them up) can range from many hours to few days. The noticeable exception is cloud-based DDoS protection services that can be deployed within the space of a few minutes.

Other benefits of cloud-based DDoS mitigation include:

• Cost effectiveness – because an organization does not have to go in for capital expenditure for specific types of hardware or software that can help in DDoS mitigation and can scale up when needed, and not in advance.
• Speed of action – because it can be deployed even as a network is under threat. This will go a long way in damage control as far as DDoS attacks are concerned
• Simpler management of IT security systems – This is important especially when one is talking about a small business owner who cannot afford to go in for his own portfolio of security services and security personnel.

 The necessity for new approaches

When it comes to handling DDoS attacks, the industry is definitely seeing a remarkable rise in number of such attacks and the sophistication by which they are executed. To deal with all possible scenarios, a security vendor must adapt a multi-layered approach to DDoS protection which will see organizations being able to fend off volumetric and service level attacks.

Not putting your eggs in one basket and relying on combination of software and hardware mitigation is key, as this approach will not only help protect against the next-gen threats but also mitigate DDoS much more effectively, consuming minimum bandwidth and minimizing disturbances to regular site visitors.

This is why a well-managed anti-DDoS portfolio of services has to bring together diverse and intelligence systems that can address different types of attacks on a network – combining instant deployment with various defensive mechanisms, such as scrubbing centers, traffic scanning and firewall mechanisms – which will work as one unit to provide a 360-degree solution.

James is a writer and blogger with 5 years experience.